President
Kia ora lovely AUMSA whānau,
My name is Jenny Luo, and as your AUMSA president for 2023, I have the privilege to oversee and manage my amazing council, as well as to advocate for all of us medical students where it counts. Following two years on the exec team, I’ve learnt how numerous corners of this enormous club work. Thus, I plan to use the knowledge to guide our working strategy for this year to continue our title as the University’s best club! (you should all know which club to vote for when the time comes around ;)) Having met with all of my council members, I am very excited to be leading such a brilliant group of lovely people and look forward to all they bring to the table. To a great 2023!
About me: Jenny is a current 5th year placed at Waitematā with a passion for plastics and reconstructive surgery (don’t get her started about flaps and recon, you’ll be there all day). As the first Asian female president of the Auckland University Medical Students’ Association, she stands for women in leadership positions, especially in medicine and surgery. In her spare time, she indulges in pole sport, which she believes should be part of the olympics! With friends and family she loves hiking, and going on tasty food adventures.
Vice President Education
Kia ora koutou katoa!
My name is Kate Dunstall (she/her) and I am stoked to be the Vice President Education (VPE) of AUMSA for 2023.
My role as VPE involves leading the Education Committee, the Clinical Education Committee, representing the student body in Board of Studies meetings, producing the Australasian Medical Council (AMC) Report, and running the clinical mentoring programme. I also do a bunch of work behind the scenes and work closely with the President and VPA.
I grew up in Waihi Beach, a small town at the base of the Coromandel Peninsula, then did my undergrad at the University of Otago. I’ve had an epic time so far as a clinical student spending fourth year in Waikato Hospital and fifth year in Whangārei Hospital and Bay of Islands Hospital. I’m now a TI based in Middlemore Hospital so feel free to come say hi if you are around!
If you need any help with anything education related I’m your person! Otherwise I can help point you in the right direction 🙂
Vice President Administration
Kia ora tātou,
I am Nick the Vice President of Administration for 2023 and I’m currently starting my fourth year of Medicine. I have previous experience sitting on the AUMSA council for the last two years as a Class rep for the Class of 2025. A role of which I have sadly given up, in order to devote more time to being your VPA.
In my spare time I enjoy a range of hobbies; getting outdoors for walks and tramps, video games, and guitar. I also have worked part-time as a tutor for a number of years now.
This year I am excited to work alongside many passionate representatives of AUMSA, assisting them in many faculties in order to deliver seamless events and be proud advocates for students’ educational and social well-being. I am based at the Auckland City Hospital, which I will hope will allow me to remain a hands-on contributor to much of AUMSA’s running. So if you do see me, please stop and say hello.
Cheers,
Nick
Treasurer
Kia Ora everyone! My name is Jeny Joseph (she/her), and I am your AUMSA Treasurer for 2023. I will be involved in managing all the money for AUMSA. This includes keeping track of all accounts via Xero, filing GST returns, approving budgets and reimbursements, as well as invoicing.
As your treasurer, I want to work towards a fair budget distribution across the portfolios so that all groups of people in med school are represented.
If I am not studying, I am probably dancing, reading, or making YouTube videos to help out pre-med/med students.
I am a third year, so if you see me around Grafton feel free to say hi!
Secretary
Kia ora everyone!
My name is Catherine, and I am your AUMSA secretary for 2023. My role in AUMSA is everything organisational, from coordinating meetings and facilitating the AUMSA elections to organising the innovation fund (previously the travel fund) and helping out the council wherever needed.
I’m very excited to be placed at Waikato for fourth year but as I have lived in Auckland for most of my life, I will probably be back relatively frequently – if you see me around, please feel free to say hi!
If you have any queries, please also feel free to let me know; I would be happy to help or point you in the right direction!
Sponsorship Officer
Hi there! I’m Callum Chalmers (he/him) and I’m your AUMSA Sponsorship Officer for 2023!
Prior to starting Med, I did my Masters in Biomedical Science and worked for a few years before taking the plunge to come back and study. It was definitely an adjustment coming back, but everyone is so welcoming and friendly which is part of what makes being a med student great. In my spare time, I love spending time with family and friends, playing games, watching TV and eating delicious food. And if we have a quiz night, you want me on your team.
As Sponsorship Officer, my role is to manage existing relationships with our generous sponsors as well as seek new and exciting partnerships with organisations as AUMSA continues to grow. I’m excited for the year ahead and all the fantastic events the other reps have planned!
Education Reps
Hi everyone my name is James Holmden I’m a third year medical student who has grown up in places all over the world spending the majority of my childhood in Hong Kong. I am a keen sportsman, playing and watching multiple sports. However I am just as interested in education and I am driven to help students this year succeed academically with a multitude of events with Emmanuel. Excited to get the year started.
Kia ora whanau, my name’s Emmanuel Ramli and I hail from the mighty West Auckland. Like James, I’m also a third-year medical student. Outside of my love-hate relationship with Anki, I am an avid basketball player and have a slight obsession with shoes.
Continuing the legacy of the Education Portfolio is a mission we believe we can accomplish. We aim to advocate for the med school’s student body and liaise with the staff to express the concerns and opinions of our students. One of our main goals is to enhance your learning and academic support, ranging from more opportunities to get hands on with your learning to intense and fast-paced problem-solving competitions with our medics down in Otago. We’d like to think we’re a friendly pair so if you see us around campus, come say hi! We’re always down for a good yarn 🙂 Bring on 2023!
Arts and Welfare reps
What do you need to know about Iele and Liv your 2023 AUMSA arts and welfare representatives? Good question and here is your answer. We are both extremely involved in the arts and have been doing things from musical theatre, playing almost every instrument under the sun to songwriting, music production and anything creative. We have had first hand experience in the arts within med school both being leads in the 2022 Med Revue so feel we are prepped to support all you creative folk out there and let your talents shine! Mental health is something we are both extremely passionate about, especially when we are all apart of a degree that can be highly challenging at times. Our motto is to ‘Treat People With Kindness’ (tpwk) and that applies to yourself, too. In addition to being there to support your well being and talents we have many exciting events in mind for this year, including; Med’s got talent, slam poetry nights and motivational welfare speeches from physicians.
Tpwk- Liv and Iele
Sports Reps
Kia ora Tātou,
We are Reuben and Brad, your Sports reps for 2023! We’re both post grad students who somehow stumbled into Med and are now enjoying our third year in the programme.
Reuben reigns from the mighty east Auckland and is commonly known as the bloke who’s personality is half biceps (i.e. not a lot of personality). If you don’t see Reuben lurking the corners of Philson library, you’ll see him pumping iron and taking a comically large amount of mirror selfies at your local gym.
Now you’ll know from a single conversation with Bradley that he originates from Rotorua, as this is about 80% of his chat. If you (rarely) see this bloke around campus, he’ll either be pesting around and spitting poor chat, or found in the Philson study rooms playing Fortnite.
In all seriousness, we are honored to represent AUMSA and hope to continue this organization’s excellent work. We both share a passion for sports and exercise, and wish to exemplify this through our events this year. If you see us around campus, don’t be afraid to say hi, but more importantly, if you see us in Shads, don’t be afraid to buy us a drink.
Nāku iti noa, nā
Reuben and Brad.
ND Editors
We are Rose, Angela and DJ, each of us are third year post-grad students, and we will be editing the student magazine for you in 2023. At AUMSA events we will be there to take your pictures and capture the memories that you will remember of your time at med school! If you have a creative side and want to contribute to the magazine in any way we’d love to make that happen so please get in touch with us— either if you spot us at Grafton or by sending us a message on FB.
Students with Dependents Rep
Kia ora team, my name is Genevieve (otherwise known as Eve).
After a few years’ worth of discussion with AUMSA presidents and other students on national committees in a similar position to myself, two years of trying to get things running smoothly, and one year as the AUMSA NZMSA Third Year Rep, I have approached AUMSA with relation to establishing a role to support our Student Caregivers throughout all cohort. This will involve acting as coordinator and working with a team of wonderful pre-clinical and clinical support people already established within my group, and liaising with faculty staff and reps from other clinical programs + National groups (already existing relationships I hope to maintain to further the initiatives).
We have had a productive year within our group, having run a workshop, had social and informative gatherings, done a fair bit of academic support and handshaking with students and staff already over 2022, and have several initiatives supported by the staff underway.
It is our hope that the initiatives we are generating will help support AUMSA in the long-run, be relevant to many ‘siloed’ collectives i.e. PG entry who continually go without sufficient support, and will help us to link with other clinical programs within FMHS to ideally give us further capacity in advocacy moving forward for these groups and aligning these to drive what we experience with adequate/inadequate internal support structures within MBCHB (as recommended by Dr Bacal).
I greatly look forward to meeting with you today and thank you for your time 🙂
Ngā mihi nui,
Eve
Class of 2023 Reps
Kia ora whānau, we are Trav and Nicky! You should know who we are cause we have successfully completed 5 years of being class reps (whoop) and will be going into 2023 as the TI class reps #streaks!! We have planned some pretty mean events that have absolutely gone off which always promotes whakawhanaungatanga. Apart from that we have been to struggle city and back with too many meetings with the faculty over the years and we try our best to AD-VO-CATE! We are looking forward to saying a big cya to 2022 and starting 2023 with the new council.
Hopefully, we get to reunite with everyone soon to cure our separation anxiety.
As always, much love,
Trav and Nicky xx
Kia ora, we’re Sarah and Harry, the 5th year class reps! As 5th years you’ll probably never see us but this post is evidence that yes, we do exist. We’re ready to once again pull through with some great events and good old fashioned advocacy for 2023. If you ever need anything don’t hesitate to flick us a message.
Class of 2025 Reps
Kia Ora everyone! We are the class representatives for the class of 2025. We are responsible for making sure our cohort has the best experience in medical school and act as a bridge between the faculty and students. Our focus this year is to support our cohort as we move into our first year of clinical placements and make sure everyone is enjoying the wards. Our email and DMs are always open if you’d like to chat or want our cohort to be involved in an event!
Class of 2026 Reps
Kia ora everyone!
We are Baraa and Caitlin and we are honoured to be the reps for the class of 2026! Our role is to ensure that our cohort gets a frictionless and enjoyable experience throughout medical school while hosting fun events and eliminating the stereotype that med school is just about tedious studying.
Our DMs are always open so don’t be hesitant to reach out because we love to talk instead of watching our lectures anyways!
Waikato Site Rep
Hello! My name is Sophie, and I’m really excited to be your Waikato Clinical Site Rep in 2023. I’ve included a photo of the stunning Milford Sound, a place well worth the drive if you’re ever around the Dunedin/Queenstown area!
As a site rep, my main goal this year is to help people feel a sense of belonging in our out-of-Auckland base. I’m planning to organise a range of different events, each appealing to the different preferences of people, to help us all feel connected to our Waikato family.
Waitematā Site Rep
Kia Ora! I’m Ekta and I’ll be the Waitematā site rep for 2023. I grew up in New Plymouth under the mighty Taranaki maunga, where I spent my time on the black sand beaches with my dog, on the netball and badminton court, and wreaking havoc in speech and drama competitions. After completing placements at Waikato and New Plymouth hospitals, I’m excited to be returning to Auckland for my final year!
As a Trainee Intern, I’m familiar with the ins and outs of the hospital environment and am here to be a reliable source of guidance. I will also be your spokesperson for any concerns you may have and will be organising social events as well as tutorials for the cohort – I’m all about that work life balance! I’m always keen to have a chat and love meeting new people so feel free to say hello when you see me around!
Auckland City Site Rep
Kia ora! I’m Anthony (he/him) and I am the Auckland Ciy Site Rep for 2023. I am a Trainee Intern so you’ll probably see me in the hospital throughout the year. Feel free to say hi! I’ll be the go-to person for anything good or bad and will advocate for students at Auckland City. I’ll be hosting a couple events for the Auckland City cohort throughout the year to have some fun and bring us all a little bit closer together.
Pasifika Mangai Rep
Kia ora and talofa lava,
He uri tēnei nō te waka o Te Arawa,
Ko Te Arawa, Taranaki me Ngāti Hāmoa nga iwi,
Ko Ngāti Whakaue, Ngāti Rangiwewehi, Taranaki, Lefaga me Falelatai nga hapū,
Ko Elai Tuivaiti ahau.
My name is Elai, and it is an honour and privilege to be the Pasifika Mangai for 2023. I hope to bring together the voices, concerns and representative ideas of the Pasifika diaspora here at the med school, as well as Aotearoa.
A bit about me:
From: Ōtāhuhu, Auckland.
Year: Class of 2026.
Hobbies: Sports, reading, eating and hanging out with friends and family.
Fun fact: Went to boarding school, which means I can devour a meal in like 30 seconds.
Rainbow rep
Kia Ora, I’m Lachy (he/him) and I’m super excited to be your AUMSA rainbow rep for 2023!🌈💅
As your rainbow rep, it’s my goal to advocate for and ensure the safety of all medical students that identify within the LGBTQIATakatapui+ Community. Whether you’re an out and proud member, still figuring things out, or just an ally, I’m always here if you need someone to reach out to.
So feel free to approach me on campus, where you’ll often find me at Superino fuelling my caffeine addiction, or procrastinating at Philson library. Alternatively feel free to message me directly and I’ll do whatever within my capacity to resolve any issues you may have.
Can’t wait to meet many of you throughout the year and help make positive changes for our medical rainbow community!!
International Students Rep
Kia ora koutou. I’m Danial Hasnal (he/him), and I am your international rep for 2023. As the international rep, I’ll be the spokesperson for us international students and the bridge between the faculty and the international students across all years. Throughout 2023, I will be hosting a couple of events for us to mingle and get to know each other. I am a 5th year in Middlemore Hospital so, you’ll see me around in Auckland and say hi when you do! You are more than welcome to text me on facebook messenger when you need someone to chat with 🙂
NZMSA Pre-Clinical Rep
Kia ora I am Mukish I am doing a BMedsci Hons year next year – so you will see me a lot on Grafton campus. Feel free to stop me and have a chat (I love to chat). I am really passionate at advocating for medical students especially around welfare and ensuring we get the best medical school experience. So if you come across a issue do let me know and we can go about solving it. I can’t promise i will be able to fix it but i will certainly try my best.